Tape roll for venetian blinds



Jan. 26, 1954 c, RUTLEDGE 2,667,220

TAPE ROLL FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed Dec. 5, 1951 INVENTOR. MfiLV/N C. ,QUTLEDGE /WEW Patented Jan. 26, 1954 A E'BOLL FD NE IAN .BL NDS Melvin C..Rutledge, Riverside, Calif.,- assig'nor to Hunter .llou las ;C 9,rprati on,:Rivel:side, Calif a qrnora iqnpfpe re Application December 3,1951;Serial'No.'259;667

1 Qlaim. (o1. arson-1.17.7)

This invention relates generally to Venetian blind hardware and particularly to'an improved means forconnecting Venetian blind tapes to the tilting mechanism usually mounted in a headrail from which the blinds are hung.

It is customary to mount the Venetian blind slats on ladders comprising a pair of vertical spaced tapes connectedat intervals by crossmembers or rungs which support the slats, and to attach the upper ends of the spaced ladder tapes to'an oscillatable bar or tilt rod which holdsthe tapes apart so thatwhen the bar is oscillated, the ladder rungs and their associated slats will be tilted. To facilitate assembly and dis-assembly of the Venetian blinds without special tools or equipment, it is desirable that instead of'securing the ladder tapes directly to the tilt bar, they be attached to an intermediate member known as atape roll which can be mounted on atilt bar of reduced size and weight.

A major object of this invention is. to provide an improved tape roll which can be stamped from sheet stock and then formed to the desired shape, thus materially reducin the costof manufacture by obviating the labor which'would be required to assemble a device of several pieces, the roll being formed in such manner that it can be mounted on and secured to a tilt bar without the-necessity of employing auxiliary securing oriastening means thus further saving labor and time inassembling the blinds preparatory to hanging.

.Another object of the invention isto provide a tape roll. that will insure the.ladder.-tapes be.- ing held in substantially uniform spaced relation in all operating positions thereof ;to=thereby secure auniform appearance of the blinds.

.A further object of the-invention is the provision of a selfelocking tape roll whichis frictionally secured to the tilt rod by its inherent resilience .tending to resist displacement or distortion.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a .tape roll to which the ladder tape can be quickly and easily. attached and detached with a minimum of time and effort eitherbefore or after the roll is mounted on the tilt bar.

the roll of Fig. 2- takenas --indicated -by -the rar- TOW -Fig. 4 is an eleVational view of the right end of the tape roll of Fig. 2 taken -as'indicated by --the arrow 4; and

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the tape roll mounted on-the tilt bar illustrating the torsional dis- -placement-of the parts.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly F-ig. '1 thereof, the numeral -l 9: designates achannel-type headrail of conventional design having the upper edges of its side-walls rolled to give numerals l4 and I5designateopposed'tapes which have cross members (notshow-m'toiform a standa-rdVenetian blind ladder.

Thebottom wall of theheadrail-le .isprovided with longitudinal slots (not shown) fob-passage of the tapes therethrough.

As-seen best in FigMZ the'taperoll-is =iormed from a-blank havinga generally rectangular cen- -tralsection,-=the center portion -of'which forms These. and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing which Fig. 1 is a perspective view partially broken away showing a channel-type headrail having brackets therein supporting a tilt bar on which the tape roll with the tapes attached is mounted;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the tape roll alone;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the left end of a base plate 19 which provides a horizontal tapereceiving surface with upstruck fingersto be described in detail later. Theopposite ends ofthe blank are slotted and -bent idownward-ly at sub stantially to the base plate-19. Theendseen in Fig. 2, indicated generally by -the-numeral.=20,

comprises a horizontal bridge portion' 2l and downwardly extending spaced legs 22 and 2.;3 forming a rectangular downwardly facingnotch 2'5 therebetween.

The other end of theblank from which the roll is formed, i.e., the left end in:Fig.2, is similarly bent-down to form an inverted U -shaped arch 30 comprising a horizontal bridge portion '3! and depending legs 32-andSIi-definingarectangular notch 35-therebetween. The notche's:2-5

and 35--are just large enough to permit the: ends 20 and 30 to slip over the tilt rod 1:2 w-iththeir respective pairs of legs in sliding engagement with the sides of the rods, --thebridges 2| -and 3l being adapted to seat on the upper face of the rod. While the slots 25 and 35 are each rectangular and of the same dimensions, they are not similarly positioned.

As seen in Fig. 3, the slot 35 formed'in the left end section 30 is uniformly aligned with the vertical axis of the tape roll, the legs 32 and 33 being equi-distant from said axis.

Referring now to the right end of Fig. 2 and to Fig. 4 it is seen that the notch 25 is cut on the bias with respect to'the vertical axis of the device, the legs 22 and 23 tapering to the left as seen best in Fig. 4. In other words, the width of leg 22 decreases from top to bottom, while the width of leg 23 increases in said direction. -The .visible portion of left-hand leg 33 is indicated'in' full lines in Fig. 4, while the inner edgeof the leftend leg 32 i indicated in dotted lines. As is apparent from Fig. 4, the right-end slot 25 is thus angularly and laterally displaced with respect to left-end slot 35, its three sides formed by the inner faces of the bridge 2| and legs 22 and'23 all being biased with respect to the corresponding members of left-end 30. It has been found that a bias of 4 is very satisfactory with medium gauge stock usually used for Venetian blind hardware of this type.

Formed as extensions of the elongated sides of the base plate I9 are curved side plates 26 and 21 which are preferably formed as cylindrical portions extending from the plate l9 down to a point just below the outer corners of their immediately adjacent end legs. that by curving the side walls 26 and 21 in the manner described, the tapes I4 and I attached thereto will be spaced a substantially constant distance through all operative positions of the roll and tilt bar, and the device is given increased rigidity throughou Returning now to the ends 20 and 30, it will be remembered that slot 25 is biased and therefore displaced with respect to slot 35. Conse- It will be apparent quently, in order to mount the tape roll on a tilt rod I2, it is necessary to twist or torsionally distort the roll about its longitudinal axis to thereby align slots 25 and 35 with themselves and with the vertical sides of the tilt rod I2. In practice,

this is accomplished by partially inserting the tilt rod in one of the slots and then twisting the en-' tire device to align the other slot with the rod whereupon the device is pushed down until the bridges 2i and 3| engage the top face of the rod. The torsional strain thus produced in the roll frame is considerable and results in a strong frictional engagement by oppositely positioned legs 23 and 32 with their respective sides of the tilt rod, since the stressed base plate l9 and side walls 26 and 27 tend of course to resume their normal unstressed positions. It has been found that using even relatively thin gauge aluminum plate to form the device, the torsional force is sufficient to provide an excellent frictional gripping action between the end legs and the tilt bar.

However, the friction is not so great as to prevent the tape roll from being readily removed from the tilt rod by exerting an upward pull thereon.

By mean of the torsionally produced friction grip'hereinabove described, it ispossible to dispense with all auxiliary fastening means such as have been heretofore used. Furthermore, longitudinal adjustment of thetape rolls along the tilt rods is readily attained without the necessity of loosening any securing means or modifying the structure in any way, all that is needed being to slide the roll along the rod to the required posifingers being preferably reversed in position as seen in Fig; 2.,,For holdingjtape l4, fingers 28 and 29 are provided, while corresponding fingers 38 and 39 secure tape l5 in place. A mentioned, the fingers are upstruck from the base plate 19, fingers- 28 and 38 being considerably longer than fingers 29 and 39, but all fingers being substantially parallel to plate IS. The opposed ends of theffingers of each pair are spaced apart to facilitate insertion of the tape under a long finger and then by folding the tape the insertion of the other edge thereof under the small finger. The tapes are then bent back on themselves as seen best in Fig. 3 with the loose end being on the inside and resting against the outer face of its ,respective side wall. If desired, loops can be first formed in the tapes and slipped over the respective fingers.

It will be understood that a separate tape roll i provided for each pair of ladder tapes, two being sufiicient for narrow blinds with additional ladders and rolls being provided when the slats are longer.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the tape roll is adapted to hold the ladder tapes inuniformly spaced position through all operative positions thereof and that it can be readily mounted on and removed from the tilt rod by merely twisting the roll to align the end slots with the side walls of the rod.

While the presently preferred form of the invention illustrated herein is fullycapable of achieving the objects and advantages hereinbefore stated, it will be understood that modifications and variations of the invention can be made within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A device for mounting a Venetian blind ladder tape on a tilt rod ofnon-circular cross section with at least two parallel faces, said device comprising a resilient sheet metal body having a flat portion on the top side thereof extending longitudinally of said tilt rod, said fiat portion having downwardly bent extensions at its opposite ends 'with slots formed in said ends. which are angularly displaced with respect to one another, whereby saidbody must be torsionally deformed to allow said slots to simultaneously engage said tilt rod, said device being pressed down onto said tilt rod from above to engage said tilt rod in said slots, one edge of each of said slots being resiliently pressed against said parallel faces of said tilt rod by the torsional strain in said body to frictionally resist removal therefrom, and means on said fiat portion for securing. said ladder tape thereto.

' MELVIN C. RUTLEDGE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED PATENTS H Number Name I Date 2,141,502 Ajouelo, Dec. 27, 1938 2,534,080 Stuber Dec. 12, 1950 2,589,846 Nelson Mar. 18, 1952 2,620,867

Rosenbaum Dec.v 9, 1952 

